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I’d say three out of the top eight teams will be from the SMC this next season. No particular order but Swain, Murphy and Robbinsville will probably give anyone in 1A or 1AA a run for their money. Tarboro, Pamlico Co., East Surry, Mitchell and Mt. Airy will be tough as well.

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Hate to say it but we're still looking at a situation where it is Tarboro, Murphy, Mt. Airy, East Surry, and then a pretty drastic drop down to everyone else. You can assume that the same players that have been at the top of the standings will once again be the predominant favorites.

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Tarboro. North Stanly is garbage once again. They had their once in a lifetime chance last season with all the recruits. What'd that get them? Mt. Airy, East Surry, Murphy, Swain. The days of good ol' football are gone for me in 1A. Y'all boys keep em' straight. Enjoyed it. Hell of a run. Best of luck to all of my 1A buddies and the teams that we battled for so many years.

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Mitchell should be good again. Even though they didn’t win I thought they were better than Murphy last year. I think most of their really good skill players are back. Don’t know about their OL and DL.

I think it would be fair to say that the two teams were pretty even, but Mitchell better? I disagree. Mitchell playing at home was huge for them, I don't think the game would have went like that at Murphy at all. Robbinsville gave Murphy a tough game at their place during the season but they got drug at Murphy in the playoffs.

I think Mitchell was definitely better than Robbinsville but my point is home field is a big deal in the playoffs. Home field gave Mitchell a lot of juice, especially in that first half. Murphy came out after halftime more composed and for the most part looked like the better team in the 2nd half, especially in the 4th quarter IMO.

The one area where Mitchell were clearly the better team was special teams. Murphy needs to find somebody to kickoff because Mitchell had great field position all night and their kicker had Murphy going the length of the field most of the night.

Mitchell will be really tough this year with their QB/WR combo and 4/5 of their o-line coming back. Their offense will put up video game numbers. I thought just about all their best players on defense besides McKinney were seniors, so I don't think they will be as strong on defense but they won't have to be with that offense.

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If Mitchell and Murphy meet up again this year it's hard to say what might happen. Right now on paper Mitchell are the favorites in small 1A with what they bring back. But there's a couple things that could shake down at Murphy that could potentially change that.

1) there are a couple skill kids that were studs on Murphy's undefeated 2017 JV team that didn't play football last year, that would start and make a real impact this year if they come back out. I expect at least one of them to play this year.

2) 'Dogs could be getting an impact transfer from Georgia. The family was closing on a house here last week, so he should be here this summer. The kid is a rising 11th grader and mainly played WR at his last school but also played QB and looks good passing the ball on film. If the kid does come he will definitely be in the mix at QB (and if he doesn't win the QB job) WR and FS. He's got good height (6'3) and is a good looking athlete from what I can tell. On film he kinda reminds me of Nelson, the starting QB/FS for Murphy last year. If he is that level of player he will be a big addition.

Apart from those two things Murphy may be getting an additional transfer this summer. No guarantee but it's more than just talk apparently. We'll see how things shake out over the next couple of months but if the aforementioned things come to pass Murphy will reload a little better than some thought.

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SMC, no doubt that Murphy Dominated the 4th. I have the same concerns about the Mitchell defense this upcoming year as well. Replacing the linebackers will be critical. If they do the defense should be ok. Offense should be really really good. Mitchell still looking for a punter but Mitchell opponents should get used to starting at the 20. Kaden could be the best kicker in WNC this season, kid has a next level leg. Not only kicks the ball deep but gets great hang time as well.

Question remains can Mitchell get over the hump. The past 4 or 5 years starting with the loss to WRH in the finals, Mitchell has been the second or 3rd best team in the state, but cannot get over the hump. Have lost to the eventual state champ ever year. All in all it has been a great time to be a Mountaineer considering the overall past results of the school. While they have had some really good teams this has been the most consistent run.

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Most transfers don't happen, it's usually just speculation that comes to nothing. Like I said on the other site Robbinsville has had more impact in conference transfers over the last 10 years than Murphy has by far with McCoy and Bradley.

The kid I'm discussing moving here is from relatively far away (Flowery Branch, GA) and the family is buying a home here. That's nothing at all like a charter school or how they operate.

The other possible transfer is a rising 9th grader from within the conference that may be moving here this summer. But notice I said move here, not "go to school" here.

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SMC, this is just an honest question, not intended to be an accusation in any way.

Has Murphy, the town and community seen an increase in new jobs, employment and new residence from the casino?

I wish Mitchell county could attract some kind of new business to increase the flow of cash into the county. Nothing to keep the kids here once they graduate. Move away to college and never return. While the overall population has remained relatively stable, it it retirement aged folks. Not saying there is anything wrong with that but the overall number of students continue to drop. Heard only 2/3 the number of children registered for kindergarten as last year. Number seems to drop every year. Mitchell high opened in the late 70's as a 3a school with well over 1000 students (1300 or so, best I remember) now down under 500.

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SMC, this is just an honest question, not intended to be an accusation in any way.

Has Murphy, the town and community seen an increase in new jobs, employment and new residence from the casino?

Yes, the casino brought around 1,000 jobs to the county but it's not just the casino. There was an article in the Cherokee Scout a couple weeks ago about how there are more jobs within like a 25 mile radius than there are people to fill them. There's a lot of people willing and wanting to move to this area for work but the problem the county is running into is that there isnt enough affordable housing opportunities here for a lot of these people, so many of them aren't able to move. This issue will have to be addressed if the county wants to sustain growth.

Murphy was hit pretty hard during the recession like most small towns and would have been in bad shape without the casino coming in. Murphy is experiencing their current dip in enrollment in large part because the age group in high school and the age group about to enter into high school are the ones that experienced the most movers during the economic recession. Im honestly surprised it hasn't had more of an effect on Murphy's athletic program but judging by what Murphy has at the middle school level a down year or two may finally be coming.

But once the kids that are currently in elementary school are in high school I expect the enrollment to rebound back (when factoring in the early college) and hold relatively steady for the foreseeable future.

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Observer im just picking at you but you do sound crazy saying Robbinsville gets all these transfers. McCoy yes, the other one has family here.

I don't think you get a lot of transfers, I know you don't. Im just saying that the transfers you have gotten recently were big time impact players. Murphy has had few families that transferred in during that time frame that made an impact but most of them were legit moves or in the case of Posey and Clapsaddle families they already lived here.

And my bad for not recognizing that you were joking, hard to tell online sometimes lol.

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Does Murphy get any kids from TN with it being on the state line. I know Copper Basin is close to Murphy and they are terrible at football. If had a son close to line and was good I would send him to Murphy.

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Does Murphy get any kids from TN with it being on the state line. I know Copper Basin is close to Murphy and they are terrible at football. If had a son close to line and was good I would send him to Murphy.

No, Murphy won't accept out of state students or out of county students.

They would accept them when I was in school because there were two kids in my grade that lived right across the Georgia line, neither played football though. But even back then I don't recall anybody from Tennessee ever going to Murphy.

I can't remember their reason for stopping it but I know they grandfathered in the families that had kids already in the system.

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The other possible transfer is a rising 9th grader from within the conference that may be moving here this summer. And notice I said move here, not "go to school" here.

A friend talked to the kid's dad this week, he told him he's definitely moving to Murphy this summer. His son is the best rising 9th grade skill kid in the conference imo. Even though he will just be a freshman he would probably still be a contributor on varsity if he moves here.

We'll see. I consider all of it conjecture unless/until I see him and the kid from Georgia walking down the hill on a Friday in August.

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Everyone better watch Moutain island charter. From what I have seen those young men are going to make some noise.

Same old song and dance. While they should never be slept on, that school in particular holds some deep resentment from the "traditional" powers. They get drug every year, with the exception of 2016 when they gave Murphy a run at the Hill.

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I think it would be fair to say that the two teams were pretty even, but Mitchell better? I disagree. Mitchell playing at home was huge for them, I don't think the game would have went like that at Murphy at all. Robbinsville gave Murphy a tough game at their place during the season but they got drug at Murphy in the playoffs.

I think Mitchell was definitely better than Robbinsville but my point is home field is a big deal in the playoffs. Home field gave Mitchell a lot of juice, especially in that first half. Murphy came out after halftime more composed and for the most part looked like the better team in the 2nd half, especially in the 4th quarter IMO.

The one area where Mitchell were clearly the better team was special teams. Murphy needs to find somebody to kickoff because Mitchell had great field position all night and their kicker had Murphy going the length of the field most of the night.

Mitchell will be really tough this year with their QB/WR combo and 4/5 of their o-line coming back. Their offense will put up video game numbers. I thought just about all their best players on defense besides McKinney were seniors, so I don't think they will be as strong on defense but they won't have to be with that offense.

That is a good assesment. #32 was the game changer for Murphy. After producing pretty much 0 offense in the first 3 quarters, he had fresher legs than everyone else, and picked the Mountaineer defense apart something fierce. I think the west small 1a will yet again come down to Mitchell and Murphy this year. Like you mentioned, the offense should be ridiculous, like in 2015 when they averaged like 52 points a game. Our new core of linebackers will have to learn the ropes right out of the gate @ Erwin, but this core of juniors and seniors was a last second 48 yard miracle field goal by Elizabethton away from being undefeated in JV. Elizabethton is a perennial powerhouse in TN 4a football.